I was creating an android app (actually a game) with customised Cocos2d and I was planning to add in a chat feature. kind of like a counter-strike where other players can send short IM to each other (I think the clash of clan's clan chat comes closest to what i want to make, you can get an idea from that)
I was trying to use AppWarp API to do this, but am finding it hard to do so. I liked appwarp because it handles server management on its own. I don't wanna get into implementing a XMPP/Smack customised code where scalability becomes an issue later on, because i dont know server management at all! (although i would love the freedom it gives me). Did i mention that its a two man team? Me and a friend :).
In my game in I need one global room (a static room) and an another special-group room (this will be dynamic, since its only created if the user selects to create the room).
But the problem with creating a dynamic group room in Appwarp is that it doesnt stay alive (remain persistent) after all the users in it have disconnected. According to the current implementation in the API, the dynamic group gets deleted if the last member logs out.
Q1) Is there a way for me to create a persistent/static room from client side? Q2) and if that isnt possible is there some way i can make the dynamic rooms persistent? Basically i'm asking anyone who has experience with Appwarp, If it requires some tweaking with the code can you please point me out in the right direction?, or is it not possible at all?
Q3) Also, i wanted to implement a chat history feature on the chat rooms. Is that already available via Appwarp API? or would I have to write a listener, so that each time a room receives a message it maintains a history file? Again this is only possible if the user can re-connect to the room.. Please guide me for this too.
Also,supposing i have to drop Appwarp idea (Gulp!) Q4) Can you please point me in the right direction to create a group-based chat with a similar api that can be integrated with an android app with cocos2D.
Currently creating static rooms through the API is not possible. However providing such flexibility is part of AppWarp's plan.
AppWarp doesn't maintain chat history on the server side currently. This is again something we are looking in to as it has been requested by other developers as well. Keep an eye on our blogs (http://blogs.shephertz.com) where we announce our updates.
We expect to release these features by early October.